Sunday

Jon went to church, I went to church. The 3 of us met Chris, Sean and Ashley at Chili's for lunch. It was a difficult lunch for Jessie as the place was packed for some reason. There wasn't even any parking in the front or sides of the building. It was very loud in there, too. She talked non-stop, coughed, she kept sucking on her straw, and her face was beet red. Those are all signs of high anxiety for her. When we got home, she continued her loud talking for over several hours. She was very agitated. I felt sorry for her. She didn't have a break down, but we were close.

Chris came back to the house and we watched a Hallmark movie: Murder She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery, two Tiny House Hunter episodes and one Tree House episode.

Snow Done! Summer Here!

That's what Jessie has been saying for weeks, and today it was almost true. Fifty degrees. Sunshine. No wind. Perfect. Rachel spent the day with Jessie and they cleaned up her room, went to the Library, Wendy's for lunch then spent quite a bit of time outside. No gloves, not hat. Just one happy girl singing her Jesus songs at the top of her lungs!

Jon and I went to the post office then walked around Partridge Creek mall. Lunch was happily eaten at Red Lobster. When we got home Jon cleaned his fish tank and I rested.

If I were to go to work at this time in my life, I'd have to work afternoons or nights. Days are just not good for me, but right now? I could work for several more hours. No problem. Bill was the exact opposite and so is Jon. He's been in bed for a half hour already. Jessie on the other hand, is a combination of both. She's both a morning person and a night person. She's up in bed on FB.

Another Good Day For Jessie

Rachel took Jessie out to breakfast then they went to Target to look around. Meijer's next then home. They watched several Full House episodes on DVD and then did some art projects. I made chicken for dinner so that was a great way to end her day. She just went upstairs to go to bed, so that's a great way for me to end the day. Upstairs early.

My Princess

Tomorrow I am donating my wedding gown and my mother's wedding gown to Angels Above Baby Gowns. It is an organization that turns wedding gowns into beautiful burial gowns for infants that never make it home from the hospital. They make the gowns, ornaments, burial wraps, blankets, and other things for parents. This organization has also raised funds for a Cuddle Cot, which is used in hospitals for parents to spend extra time with their babies before taken to the funeral home.

I think every mother would like her daughter to wear her wedding gown when she gets married. I know my mom did. I must have told her I wanted to wear her gown when I married because she was very disappointed when I chose not to. There really wasn't a choice, though, as I never would have fit into it. She was skinny when she married. I was not.

After my wedding I had my gown cleaned and stored in a special box that sat under my bed for almost 33 years. When Jessie was born I knew she would never wear it. Tonight I "made" Jessie wear my hat and veil for a few minutes. She said, "Princess", and seemed happy to put it on. That made me happy. I love her smile, don't you?

Tonight I got the gowns ready for tomorrow. I'm a little sad, but if our gowns will give some grieving parents joy in being able to bundle their baby in such a beautiful gown for their burial, I'm not that sad. After all, I brought my babies home.

Another Doctor's Appointment and Another Meeting

It seems like all I've done lately is go to doctors or have meetings for Jessie. Today Jon got the result of his thyroid ultrasound ... all was normal! That is good news. However, it still doesn't answer what the lump in his neck is. So, he sees an ENT in February. Today was not a good physical day for him.

I had a Behaviorist come out to the house for an assessment for Jessie. After 1 1/2 hours of answering questions, she said that Jessie didn't qualify. She does not have "bad" behavior but "emotional" behavior. She recommended a therapist, which we already have. I am now looking in to getting a psychiatric therapy dog for Jessie. If any one reading this has had experience with a psychiatric therapy dog and knows of an agency in Michigan, please let me know. I have begun my internet research. We'll see what comes of it.

I Failed The Security Walk Through

Jon and I were out for most of the day and one of our stops was the county court house. I was going to stay in the van but I needed to use the restroom. Obviously, it is a restricted area and you have to go through a security check before proceeding inside. We left everything in the van that wasn't allowed. Jon went first then me. Beep, beep, beep. I couldn't believe that something on me caused me to fail the walk-through. Twice in fact. Finally the officer asked me if I had any joint replacements. Bingo! I never gave my knee replacement a thought. He wanded my knee and I was almost out of there when the other officer said, "Check her purse. She's got pepper spray in there." Say what? I told him I didn't but he was too emphatic so I started to empty my purse for the other officer when he told me to just go. I didn't think the other officer like it much, but oh well. I spent the next hour or so trying to figure out what the xray machine picked up in my purse. I finally figured it out. I have 2 roller bottles of doTERRA oils in a front pocket. I guess they could look like pepper spray canisters on an xray machine. And to think this was all because I needed to use the restroom! Next time I'll wait and go to McDonald's!

My Helper

I'm trying to down size as much as I can in the entire house. One kitchen cupboard in particular has been driving me crazy because I can't get things in or out. The cabinet that holds cookie sheets and pizza pans and cooling racks. Tonight I got out everything then after much persuasion, had Jessie get in the cabinet as far as she could go and wash it down. She even washed the walls of the cabinet!

Rachel was here for only 2 hours this morning as Jess had a doctor's appointment. When we finished we ate lunch at Wendy's then picked up the mail. Jon had another crappy day at work. At least he's off for a couple days.

Happy 5th Birthday, Shiloh !!!

Doreen and Shiloh came for a birthday lunch in honor of Shiloh's birthday that was this past week. I made her homemade chicken nuggets, rice and broccoli, which are her favorites. Jessie's, too! After she opened her presents we ate cake. Oh, that was sooooo good. It's been quite sometime since we've eaten cake. Even Jess ate the entire piece. She usually eats the frosting and very little cake.

About a half hour after they left, Chris came and we watched another Hallmark movie, "The Gift of Miracles" that was taped last year. It was really good. I'd probably watch it again.

Just after Jon got home from work Chris left and I sat and talked with Jon while he ate dinner. He had another rough day and he looked like it, too!

Jess is already in bed looking at "people book" on my iPad. I'm sure she can say "face" but for some reason she calls Face Book, People Book!

Why Am I Blogging?

I ask myself that question numerous times. I do like making a hard-bound book of the blogs every 4 months and having them as my "diary", and a place to keep yearly momentos I want to keep. I began blogging to keep everyone posted on Bill's condition. Since he passed away I've tried to highlight Jessie. I share my faith at times. I like the pictures I post. Life has just become so ordinary that it's boring relating what we've done on "this day". 

Today was one of those ordinary, per usual Saturdays with Jessie. Nothing special. No pictures. I guess I'm just in the mood to think up something creative to blog. So, good night.

Thursday and Friday

I was unable to blog last night because we lost power for about 2 1/2 hours. We had just sat down to dinner and there was a large bang (our computer) and the lights went out, came back on then dimmed. It was funny because all 3 of us looked up at the ceiling! I'm not sure what we expected to see up there.

We were in a brown out, which is worse than no power. Jon went around and unplugged all important electronics, as well as the furnace and we only kept one light on to let us know when the power came back on. Thankfully, it only reached 66 degrees in the house by the time power was restored. The hardest part of no power is keeping Jessie occupied. She wasn't happy that she couldn't watch her YouTube videos, but she made do with playing with her cards, then games on her iPad. We rarely eat after dinner, but considering all, I gave her a bowl of popcorn. That helped for about 20 minutes. By then I figured we better go upstairs and get her to bed before it got colder.

The lovely sound of generators broke the silence of the night. I wasn't about to rush into that. We are prepared with battery operated lights and lanterns and battery back ups for our phones and iPads, and many candles, which do keep the house warmer. I figured if it was off in the morning we'd deal with our generator. After all, it was only equipment malfunction at the DTE station and not a storm, like the east is getting. Now that's a BIG problem!

Today, Friday, we went out to breakfast for a meeting with Jessie's old and new case worker. I had to sign papers for service for the next 6 months. Rachel took Jessie to the Library then Meijer's. Jon had an ultrasound on the lump in his neck, met us for breakfast, then he went shopping. I had lunch with a friend then came home and did a load of wash. Fish and chips sounded good to me so we went out to dinner. I called Chris and she met us at the restaurant. All of us have enough left overs for dinner tomorrow!

Heart Class

For some reason Jessie doesn't say ART, she says HEART. So, today Rachel took her to Heart Class then brought her home for lunch. Jess was on her own, so to speak, after Rachel left at 1:00 p.m. for school. Sue came at 5:45 p.m. so that I could go to SM.

Not A Normal Day For Jessie

Brenda needed to take off this week to continue to help her mom who had knee replacement. Our new aide, Jen, was going to start today, but her father is seriously ill in ICU and family is more important. Soooo, it was just Jess and me ... and Barry, Chris and Marilyn! Because I had no one to care for Jessie, we had our once-a-month Stephen Ministry Leader's meeting here. Marilyn made potato soup and Chris brought cheese cake. We began at noon with lunch, and the last person left at 4:45 p.m. It was a very good meeting, just long, which they all are. There really is a lot to discuss and plan in keeping our SM current and interesting.

Yesterday was a very bad physical day (my back) for me and today wasn't much better. When everyone left I sat on the couch and took a nap then fixed a late dinner and we ate with Jon when he got home from work. I'm ready to call it a day.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

My kids are not fond of soup, but I made a winner tonight with Jon's help. I had chicken stock with pieces of chicken in it to start. The rest ... celery, onions, left-over mashed sweet potatoes, cubed butternut squash, yellow squash, zucchini, yucca, and noodles. Along with corn bread, it was the perfect dinner on a very cold night.

A Peaceful Day

Jon did not attend church this morning due to total body pain and nausea. Jess and I had a quiet morning then I left for church. It was great to be there and to worship. The entire service gave me a peaceful feeling. The 3 of us went to Times Square for lunch and even that was quiet and nice. Both Jon and I had a stir fry that neither one of us could even eat half. Jess enjoyed half of her chicken strips and finished them tonight for dinner. Chris came in the late afternoon and we watched a taped Hallmark murder mystery. Now I'm working on the computer and it's that time to close shop and go upstairs.

We All Slept In

Because no one had anywhere to go and no aides were coming, the 3 of us slept in. Jessie was the first to wake around 8:30 a.m., me at 10:30 a.m. and Jon at 10:45 a.m.  I must say if felt good not to have to get up at a certain time. However, the extra time in bed wrecked havic with my back. It might have felt good sleeping in, but the back pain later wasn't worth it. Oh, well.

The 3 of us went to the post office, out to breakfast, the bank and Tractor Supply. It turned out that there was a dog adoption and Jessie got to see and pet several puppies. She liked that. While we were eating breakfast I asked Jessie if she'd like to go somewhere when we finished with breakfast. Her answer? "LUNCH".

Jon's Appointment

Rachel came and took Jessie out to breakfast, then the Library and Meijer's to return pop cans. They had lunch at home then watched home videos.

I went with Jon to the doctor's regarding the lump he found in his neck. A thyroid ultrasound has been scheduled for next week, with follow up appointments. Continued prayers are appreciated. When we finished at the doctor's we shopped at Hobby Lobby, Family Christian Stores and Best Buy. While at FCS, I had a coupon for 35% off all regular items. PLUS $30.00 in gift cards. I used the coupon, bought 3 books and 2 DVD's but didn't remember the gift cards until about an hour ago! That is sooooo annoying.

Shopping Day

Brenda's mom came through her knee replacement surgery well, and I hope for my sake that she'll be back next Tuesday. Today was shopping day and Jess and I strolled around Meijer for a couple of hours, or at least it seemed that way. Jess does so well in the store - except for her voice level. It is super loud. I just don't know why. There's nothing wrong with her hearing, yet she hollers in public. If anyone were looking for us, they'd be able to hear us long before seeing us.

Jess bought herself a couple mosaic crafts and has almost completed one on her own. I put the number on the back of the sticky squares so she knows what number goes where.

Happy Birthday, Shannon and Caroline !!!

Jon went shopping, Rachel took Jessie to Art Class and Subway, and I met with the "Glory Girls" for a special lunch in honor of Shannon and Caroline's birthday. This is the group that I have been a part of for 12 years or so. I am truly blessed to be a part of such a nice group of women who care for each other and pray for each other. I must say we do a lot of laughing, too. Quite a bit, actually. There's nothing like being blessed with friends. Thank you, God, for these ladies.

Jessie The Helper

Not having any aides this week, or most of last week, makes this week seem like a holiday. The weather has been too yucky to go out, so we've been home doing projects. Today Jon was rearranging his food shelf in the pantry and Jessie stuck with him the entire time. She organized packages of food by type then helped him put items back. Did she stop there? No. She wanted to do her shelf. So, Jon went to rest and Jess and I did her shelf. She wanted to do mine, but it didn't need it because I don't have a lot of food or snacks on my shelf. (The kids buy their own snacks or food that they alone will eat.) That's about it for today. I did paperwork and finished one book and began another. I do love to read!

A Productive Day

I could name a lot of things that I did today, but the most important was getting Jessie to help around the house. She folded towels, emptied the dishwasher and I even got her to do some mosaic art projects. She LOVES doing them. She is really good at fine motor skills and her mosaic pictures are really nice.

Doreen came this afternoon and brought Matt who cleaned off the van, shoveled the front walk, put down ice melter and took out the garbage cans. I had planned on doing that this morning (minus the garbage cans) but my back was in bad shape. Now we're already for our next storm, which begins late tonight.

Did I mention Jessie's new thing she's harping on?  "Snow all done. Summer now! Tent. Brenda. Small house. Swim little pool."  Because we've had very little snow up until yesterday, she thinks winter is all done. She wants to go camping again with Brenda, stay in the small "cabin" and swim in the kiddie pool. Every day we go through this. At least 10 times. For those of you that are laughing ... it is NOT funny.

A Quiet Sunday

Not much happened around here today. That's always a good thing. Jess only yelled at me when I coughed. Other than that, it was only the sound of her iPad playing Ramona and Beezus that broke the silence. Chris came and visited for about and hour and a half. I began a new book and took a short nap. I could have done so much, but I didn't.

I mentioned yesterday that we were watching AVATAR. Jess was in the living room with us for about 15/20 minutes cuddled up next to me on the floor and I thought she was going to sleep. She got up and went in to the family room. Jon happened to hear her say, "TOO scary!" before she sat down. I've never heard her say TOO anything. TOO scary was appropriate. Cute.

Girl's Day Out Plus

Jess and I went out to the bank, out to breakfast, the post office, Michael's and Meijer's. That took about 4 hours. When we got home Doreen and Shiloh visited for about an hour and then 45 minutes later Diane and Randie came for dinner then we watched the movie, AVATAR, which I have never seen. I like it. It was pretty intense, though. It was nice having Diane and Randie here for no reason other than to have them over!

A Family Date Day

Jon, Jess and I had a family date day. We went to a store near Lakeside, the New Balance store in Troy, Bahama Breeze for lunch, the Field and Stream store by Oakland Mall, then I dropped Jon off at Meijer's and Walgreen's to get a couple items. We had a really nice day together.

HOWEVER, I about had a heart attack at lunch. Bahama Breeze's restrooms are on the second floor and I don't like going up there. There is an elevator, but it's a very closed in area. I asked Jon to go up with us. Jessie doesn't like elevators to begin with, but it is better than the stairs, which she'd never do. Anyway, we reached the 2nd floor, Jon got out, I got out, turned around and no Jessie and the door was shutting! I panicked. I kept hollering her name and hitting the button to get it to open (it was totally closed), which it finally did. There she was sitting on the floor (which she does when she's very scared). The door must have started closing on her and I didn't see that. She immediately sat down when she found herself alone in the elevator, which is even scarier because she could have gotten her coat caught in the door, and if it had gone down ... well, THANK YOU GOD for taking care of Jessie today. We "rescue" her from the elevator and she says, "Scary!" She got that right! This just proves that things happen so quickly, no matter how careful you are.

Jessie And The Guinea Pig

After a morning of grocery shopping and lunch out, Brenda took Jess to her house to see her daughter, Jessica, off to college again. Jessica cared for a guinea pig for the holidays and, as you can see from these pictures, my Jessie was having a great time with it. However, at one point Brenda said that while Jessica was cleaning out the cage she put the guinea pig in a box. Only the thing jumped out and ran under the couch. Brenda was on one side, Jessica on the other trying to lure it out and Jessie flung herself on top of Brenda on the floor, laughed hysterically and yelled, "PIG" "PIG  "PIG"  !!!!!!  I sure wish I was there and took a video. That would have made FB for sure!

Today Went ... Not As Planned

I had a goal of taking off the ornaments on Jessie's tree this afternoon, but that didn't happen. I had a meeting this morning with a potential worker that lasted several hours, an unexpected trip to my Income Tax person (he redid my 2013 returns), KFC for lunch with Jess and then the post office. When I got home I was so tired I sat on the couch and took a nap. Doreen came at 5:45 p.m. and took care of Jessie while I went to SM. She left when Jon got home from work.

I've just finished documentation that is needed for yet another meeting in the morning. Jessie's yearly PCP report. It begins at 9:30 a.m. I'm about done with meetings.

Swimmin' Day !!!

Finally the day arrived - Brenda came and took Jessie to the pool for her swimming time. Brenda said she had fun and spent quite a bit of time in the water. They also went to their usual Subway for lunch then shopped a bit at Meijer's.

I completed the DHS report that was due yesterday and mailed it. I spent the rest of the day putting away Christmas decorations. I have 3 more boxes to go to Salvation Army. I'm being ruthless, well sort of, and getting rid of items I haven't put out in ages. Tomorrow Jessie and I will take down her ornaments from the Christmas tree and Jon will put the tree away on Thursday. Time to bring out the snowmen!

Where's Rachel?

I was going to text Rachel this morning and ask her why she was late for work. And I was going to say, "Don't tell me you're in Florida, either!" (which she is). She's gone all week then starts her new semester at college and will only be able to work on Friday's and some Saturday's. If you're reading this Rachel, we missed you !!! Hope you and your mom are having a great time!

My morning began with an hour's Annual Assessment meeting and a Comcast repairman replacing our modem that wasn't picking up our home WiFi. Wash and lots of paperwork finished off the morning and early afternoon.

Jess has been quite ornery and has done a lot of yelling at me. Most of it has been after we returned from a doctor's appointment. There was a screeching toddler in the waiting room and I could tell that Jess was close to a panic attack. One of the MT's noticed and got us back to a room to wait our turn. That helped, but for the next half hour, that child didn't shut up. I think there were quite a few adults who might have had a panic attack, too!

Sunday

It was nice to be back in church. The sermon was very powerful. When I got home the 3 of us went to Wendy's for lunch. Jon and I watched 2 Scorpion episodes then I worked on a DHS report that is due tomorrow (it's going to be late). Jessie spent her day on her iPad, as usual. My eyes burn because I've been on the computer for the past 2 hours. I think it's time to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

An Afternoon of Games

Jon, Jessie and I spent the day at Chris' house. As soon as Jessie got in the door, hung up her coat, took off her shoes, said "HI" to Chris, she grabbed her wheeled back pack (always filled with stuff to do), said, "My bedroom", then went to the guest room and that's where she stayed unless she was eating food at the table. She spent the day watching videos on her portable DVD player and playing with Apples 2 Apples cards or ABC tiles. She was very happy.

We had dinner around 1:30 p.m. Sean and Ashley came, too. Eric was unable to make it because he was having car issues. After that we played Tripoli, Aggravation and about 60 different versions of Tenzie. It was a really fun and relaxing afternoon and evening. I think we got home around 8:30 p.m.

This is the first day in about 3 weeks that I felt like my old self again. The holidays this year were especially difficult for me, for whatever reason. I don't think I was feeling great physically, either, so that added to it. I pray that tomorrow will be another good day.

Happy New Year

It just doesn't seem possible that this is now 2016. What did I do to celebrate? Washed a load of clothes, vacuumed the floors, up-dated our family 2016 calendar with appointments and birth dates, read a bit, took a nap, and took care of Jessie. Pretty boring and depressing. Last night, too. Jon was in bed by 8:00 p.m. and Jessie asleep by 11:00. I was reading when the fireworks went off at midnight. I continued to read until 1:40 a.m.